Footballing thoughts of a Nigerian Gooner

Nicklas Bendtner’s Arsenal Decade: The Good, The Bad and The End

Arsenal submitted their list of retained and released players after the end of the 2013/14 Premier League season. Chuks Aneke, Zak Ansah, Daniel Boateng, Zachari Fagan, Park Chu Young, Siemann Leander and Bendtner Nicklas. These 7 may be joined by Bacary Sagna who is poised not to accept Arsenal’s offer. Fabianski has jumped ship to Swansea to get more games between the poles.

Of the released 7, two names stand out: Park Chu Young and Nicklas Bendtner. Only Arsene Wenger can tell Arsenal why Park was signed. with just 12 Premier League minutes and 7 games in total, the mystery behind his signing is yet to be deciphered. His Carling Cup goal against Bolton will always be remembered.

As for Lord Bendtner, his 10 years Arsenal career has finally come to an end after so many failed attempts. in 2013 Summer, Arsenal’s failure to secure any of Suarez, Higuain and a late Demba Ba meant, Wenger had to keep him for his last year of his contract.

The Bad

Drunken: Bendtner had a bad reputation of getting drunk, after which he attracts a fine, ban or charge over his conduct as a result of his drunkenness. in the just concluded season, the Dane was fined by Arsene Wenger. On a night, the gunners were toiling at Munich and eventually eliminated by the Bavarians, Bendtner had a drunken fight with a taxi driver in Copenhagen. Was he drunk because of the lose? I doubt. After that drunken affair, he never played for The Arsenal again.

Pants Down: The Dane also has a nack for getting his pants down. After his accident in September 2009, Bendtner was seen in his underpants. Some months before this crash, he was seen leaving a nightclub drunk and revealing underpants the morning after Manchester United had knocked the Gunners out of the Champions League. He has had so many underpant-moments but his goal celebration in the Euro 2012 still stands out. He was eventually fined.

Missed Goals

Everyone has missed a goal, even Messi. Many Nigerians still have Yakubu Aiyegbeni in their bad books becaused he missed a sitter. For Bendtner, the peak of his missed goals was at the Nou Camp. In 2011, After Robin Van Pierse was controversially red-carded, Bendter came on and had a chance to score arsenal’s second goal of the game which would have put Arsenal through on away goals but he fluffed his chances.

The Good

Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham 22nd December 2007.

Adebayor had put the gunners ahead in the 48th minute but Spurs equalized in the 66th minute thanks to Berbatov. Alumina would save a penalty to keep the gunners in the game but it was Nicklas Bendtner that scored the winner seconds after coming in, in the 74th minute. Scoring against Spurs is always a positive for any Arsenal player. His debut goal.

Bent-Spurs

Standard Liege 2-3 Arsenal 16th September 2009

Before Arsenal could settle for the game, they were already down by 2 goals in just 5 minutes. It was to be an uphill task but Bendtner brought the gunners much hope after he scored a goal in the 45th minute just before the break. the gunners will go on to win the tie thanks to goals from Thomas Vermaelen and Eduardo.

Arsenal 5-0 Porto 9th March 2010

Arsenal strolled to the quarter finals of the 2010 champions league thanks to a 5-0 drubbing of Porto. The gunners had lost the 1st leg 2-1 no thanks to Fabianski’s moment but Bendtner’s hattrick at the Emirates turned the tie. Bendtner had been profligate some days before against Burnley but he was sharp enough to convert two Arshavin assists and a late penalty. Nasri did score a wonder goal that night and Eboue also had his name on the goal scorers list. Nicklas Bendtner made history by becoming the first player to score a European hat-trick at Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal 2-0 Cardiff City 1st January 2014

After years on loan with Birmigham and Juventus, Bendtner returned to the Emirates. His last great moment was on the 1st day of the year. Coming in as a sub, Bendtner broke te deadlock in the 89th minute before wobbling off with his name sang to the high heavens at the Emirates. Walcott would chip in the second to keep Arsenal on top of the League table.

The End

Bendtner had a reputation of late late goals. He bagged the status of the King of late late goals on Arsenal.com. With 47 in 87 starts and 171 appearances for Arsenal, the road finally comes to an end. Who wouldn’t miss his late sliding goals?

Dominant in the air and equally adept on the ground, with a deceptive turn of pace and an ability to finish clinically, Nicklas is a full Denmark international with more than 50 caps and an impressive goalscoring record for his country. He found the net in both the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship. He would always be a force for his nation.

At least, he left with an FA cup medal. I have always wanted him to leave with a medal. He also had a medal winning the Serie A with Juventus despite playing just 9 games and scoring no goal. And he scored against Barcelona

Don’t be surprised if he scores against Arsenal the next time he plays. You have to admire his confidence although misinterpreted as arrogance.

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Published by AmosCP

A Football lover with a unique view to life. Supports Arsenal, Enyimba and the Nigerian League. A fan of Tomas Rosicky and Roger Federer with the latter as a role model. An engineer with a love for football statistics. Loves to blog about anything. Follow on twitter (www.twitter.com/AmosCP) and blog (www.twitter.com/Soccergunz).
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